Ali’s 4 & 5 month update
There’s a huge difference between a 3 month old baby and a 5 month old one. At 5 months old Ali is sitting up unassisted for a minute or so before toppling over. She’s rolling and scooting around in circles. She sleeps through the night most every night with a rare 6 AM snack wakeup. She takes 2 solid naps a day and only sometimes takes an evening catnap. She wants to PLAY and be entertained and hates being alone. Here’s a quick rundown of things I want to remember.
I try to stick to Ali’s schedule as much as possible. If I don’t she ends up cranky and unhappy. Even when I think I’m helping her out like giving her an extra feeding or letting her take her nap early, it ends up biting us in the end.
7:30 AM: Wakeup
8 AM: Nurse
9-10:15 AM or so: Nap
12 PM: Nurse
1-2:30 PM or so: Nap
4 PM: Nurse
6 PM or so: mini catnap if needed
7:30 PM: Nurse & Bedtime
Overnight sleep 8 PM- 7:30 AM
We are always home for the afternoon nap since both kids nap at the same time and I work during that time. For the morning nap we are often on the go, but she naps better when she’s in her crib. She is now at the age where she’ll wake up immediately if a moving stroller stops or we try to transfer her from the car to the stroller, so we try to allow her to nap at home when possible.
I didn’t have to sleep train her per se, but we did encourage her to sleep all night. One night out of desperation I turned the sound machine up, gave her a giant bottle before bed, and turned the monitor low. She moved around and made a few little whining noises but never really cried. The next morning she woke up super happy and refreshed. At the same time I introduced the 4 times a day feeding (morning, lunchtime, 4 PM and bedtime). For a few days she woke up around 5 AM and I nursed her for just a few minutes before putting her back down, and within a week she was sleeping a solid 11 hours every night. Go Ali!
Ali drools nonstop. She spits up a lot if I consume sweets or nuts, so I’m mostly avoiding both for now. She hasn’t started solids yet but she will be soon. When she takes a bottle she takes 8-9 oz. That is not a typo. She has even taken 10 or 11 oz before. It’s crazy for me to see it happen because Raffi never took more than 4, maybe 5 oz in a bottle.
She loves music as much as Raffi does and kicks like crazy when she hears a song she likes. She loves being frightened by us and cracks up hysterically when we do it. She cries HARD when she’s overtired or can’t reach a toy, but never cries otherwise. We’ve gone to a lot of farms this fall and at the end of the summer too, and Ali loves looking at all the animals.
Her favorite thing to do, aside from eating all the toys, is to dance to music or interact with Raffi. It’s so fun to watch.
Click the photo to enlarge:
Random facts:
Weight: unknown
Height: unknown
Diapers: size 3 in disposable, 2 exposed snaps in cloth, uses about 8 diapers a day (1-2 of those are cloth)
Clothing: mostly 6-12 month, can squeeze into a few 3-6 month onesies (mostly because I don’t own any larger long sleeve ones yet)
Sleep: 11.5 straight hours, 2 naps (9 AM and 1 PM)
Outfit changes: usually only 1 a day from spit up or drool
Must haves: Babysitter Balance, Winkel toy, Aden & Anais swaddle blankets (we still use these for everything), MAM bottle, Britax carrier, any books with bright photos, Sesame Street figurines to munch on, HABA pacifier chain
Read more:
Raffi’s 4 month update
Raffi’s 5 month update
Previous updates
3 Responses to “Ali’s 4 & 5 month update”
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She’s beautiful, Sabrina!
She’s so beautiful! I love her big cheery smile. She and Rocco wear the same size clothes. 🙂
What a great schedule! How were you able to sync two kids so well? Or did it happen naturally? I’m 34 wks with baby #2 and getting anxious about a schedule. We all function better with one here too. Also my toddler didn’t drop to 4 feedings until 7/8 months when he was pretty established on solids. Otherwise my supply would tank. Any tips? I love reading your updates since life with two is just around the corner for us:-)